Netflix’s “Holidate” is a good movie to watch if there’s no new interesting options. It is however a little predictable and has some obvious punch lines. This film is about two individuals who are tired of being single on holidays. The two agree to be each other’s platonic plus-ones all year long, only to catch real feelings along the way.
The cast is all around amazing and good looking and is full of familiar faces. Formed by Emma Roberts, Kristin Chenoweth and Frances Fisher. To mention a few.
“Sloane” is played by Emma Roberts, who is known mostly from American Horror Story in which she had a much more serious role than in this movie. Although she is the main character in “Holidate,” the predictability of this movie unfortunately devalues and damages her reputation in the acting world. Sloane’s mother “Elaine” is played by Frances Fisher who is a British-born, American actress. She might look familiar since she has appeared in “Titanic” as Rose’s mother. In both movies she is not a very likable character and portrays her love as a mother in a tough and critical way.
The Netflix rom-com was directed by John Whitesell who also directed other films such as “Calendar Girl” and “Big Momma’s House 2.”
“Holidate” starts off with Sloane arriving at her mother’s on Christmas. She gets an earful about being single from her whole family, even her little sister who’s only 8 years old has a boyfriend and her younger brother proposes to his current girlfriend. In Sloane mothers eyes she is the black sheep of the family and the only child left who doesn’t seem to have luck in love.
In the film Sloane’s free-wheeling Aunt Susan introduces her to the idea of a “holidate”. A no-strings pal who serves as your partner during holiday functions, and nothing else. These two strangers agree to become each other’s “holidays.” If anything, it’s like a rental-family service, except it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement rather than something that’s paid for. The characters’ views on romance are painfully outdated, even as Jackson and Sloane grow closer together, Jackson continues to argue the casually sexist view that all women become crazy during the holidays. However, they find that sharing everything they hate may just prove to be something they unexpectedly love. This leads them to go on a series of arranged holidates strategically planned in order to keep family and friends from commenting or pointing out the obvious, and that is the fact that they are single and miserable.
This is a film with genuine sex appeal, and Roberts and Bracey get away from cheap and corny jokes and one of the reasons that this movie is so funny and hits the mark is that it makes fun of rom-coms even though it is one. This movie is clearly for audiences over the age of 15. There is a lot of drug reference, language and sexual references. Holidate however fails to make a case for itself as a new Christmas classic.